Why Malayalam Cinema May Have A Superstar Problem Today

In an industry dominated by Mammootty and Mohanlal, ever since the late 80s when the actors first became superstars, there was a strange phenomenon quietly brewing in the Malayalam film industry of the 2000s. Both Megastars were in their late 40s, and the youngsters of Kerala, among the most impactful for ticket sales, suddenly felt a large gap in characters that represented them on screen. While Dileep and Prithviraj Sukumaran bridged this gap to an extent through family comedies and dramas, there was a dearth of big commercial films to drive masses to the theatres.

As critic and historian CS Venkiteswaran pointed out in an earlier interview to Film Companion, “there was a need for stars who could convincingly do romance, play the college student, pull off action scenes and just as importantly, dance well to hit numbers.”   

It is here that we saw the entry of Tamil superstar Vijay and Telugu actor Allu Arjun burst into the Kerala market. They brought their own brand of massy entertainment, and their foot-tapping dance numbers became instant anthems in the state. While Vijay dominated this market up until the end of his career with Jana Nayagan, (the highest-grossing Tamil film in Kerala of 2026) Allu Arjun, whose films were dubbed into Malayalam, still goes by the loving rechristening ‘Mallu’ Arjun. However, 20 years since that vacuum was first felt, we’re now witnessing an Onam release window filled with a problem of plenty — with a star for every genre, budget and demographic.  

The August of 2026 alone will begin with the release of Thudakkam, the launch film of Vismaya, Mohanlal’s daughter, in a film directed by Jude Anthany Joseph, whose last film was the blockbuster 2018. For Onam, the state’s biggest release season, the industry will see three superstars fighting it out for screens with Prithviraj’s Khalifa taking on Dulquer Salmaan’s I’m Game on the 20th and the more “family-friendly” comedy Bethlehem Kudumba Unit, starring Nivin Pauly and Mamitha Baiju, releasing a day later. As theatres grapple to find a window for each film, this Onam is also a little different owing to the absence of a Mohanlal or Mammootty film (last year saw the release of Mohanlal’s Hridayapoorvam).

“They will continue to remain legends, even if the industry isn’t solely dependent on them today,” says G Dhananjayan, industry tracker and film distributor. “Today, there’s a star capable of bringing in a collection of ₹50 crore or more in every tier in Malayalam. Decades ago, it would have been impossible to imagine a female-led action movie like Lokah Chapter One: Chandra dominating Mohanlal’s Hridayapoorvam for Onam, and then going on to become an industry hit.” 

There are around 17 stars with films that have collected ₹50 crore or more, and among these, as many as 10 have multiple films grossing upwards of ₹100 crore, an unprecedented feat for an industry of this size. “Earlier, if a star needed 10 years to establish themselves as a viable force, now it takes just five years and two to three movies,” adds Dhananjayan. “It’s healthy for the industry, and it could guarantee a decent opening on most release days if they choose to work on at least a film or two annually.”  

This week’s release Unmadham is an example of this. It is written by Shahi Kabir and led by Kunchacko Boban, in their latest collaboration following Officer On Duty, a superhit that collected upwards of ₹50 crore. Officer... was the story of a middle-aged police officer forced to overcome his PTSD as he tails a team of serial killers. As for Unmadham, he plays a lower-ranked police constable who deals with the supernatural while investigating a “cursed case.”

“What’s different about the Malayalam industry is how such subjects too can go on to become huge hits,” says Kiran Das, director of Unmadham. Although both films have him play a police officer, these are not films sustained by a superhuman character — a fixture in every commercial film.

What matters in both films is the interiority of a middle-aged, middle-class officer, trying to overcome his personal battles. Kunchacko Boban’s stardom is unique in the manner that he’s placed right at the centre of the two titans, Mammootty and Mohanlal, and the younger lot of stars starting from Prithviraj, Dulquer and actors younger than them. “The fact that such an actor exists allows us to think of such intense subjects, knowing well that it can be made without any dilution," he explains.

Film critic and YouTuber Aswin Bharadwaj points out that the definition of stardom is broader in Kerala, at least when one compares it with neighbouring industries. He points to the recent success of Balan: The Boy, a film which minted upwards of ₹35 crore and received positive reviews. "The film didn't even market the fact that it starred someone like Tovino Thomas," he says. This kept the focus solely on the film, with all eyes remaining on Chidambaram, who previously made Manjummel Boys, a blockbuster without any stars.

“Stardom is still a content-driven factor,” Bharadwaj adds. “In another industry, a director like Chidambaram may have signed on to make a film for a huge star. But here, he didn't have to make any compromises. He could make a film with total newcomers and still find success. That’s a form of stardom too.” 

It’s an argument that concurs with the point made by Suresh Shenoy, owner of a Kerala-based theatre chain. Speaking in a recent interview to Cue Studio, he takes the examples of two recent blockbusters which went on to become the highest grossers in Kerala, Lokah and Vaazha 2. Both films worked exceptionally, and both got there without relying on star power. “They broke genre templates. Lokah was a solid blend of action, mythology and comedy, and it achieved its collections even though it released opposite a Mohanlal film. For Vaazha 2, one cannot say the story was entirely new, but right from casting to the way the story was told, everything worked positively. It’s a film that worked beyond anyone’s expectations,” he remarks.

Bharadwaj also presents an interesting example to explain this phenomenon. A film titled Santhosh Trophy was originally meant to star Prithviraj Sukumaran. However, due to some technical reasons, he was not able to lead the film, and its director Vipin Das announced the same film with actor Jomon Jyothir instead. “In terms of star power, of course Jomon Jyothir does not come close to Prithviraj. And they might also have to make certain cuts in the budget because of this reshuffle,” adds Bharadwaj. “But because Vipin Das wrote and produced Vaazha 2, the project hasn’t really lost its sheen with the new casting.”

But Dhananjayan underlines the issue with this model of stardom: “In Malayalam, relative newcomers may score an industry hit, right from their first film, and this is symbolic of the content and its open-minded audience."

“But we shouldn’t mistake that for pure stardom. These are actors that have made a superhit film, but they’re not yet “superstars” in the true sense of the term. A superstar from the 80s or 90s got there after making hit films for more than a decade. At every stage, they’re creating a place in people’s hearts, and this means that they can withstand multiple flops without losing their value,” he quotes, adding, “But if stardom comes very easily, it’s also true that you can lose it all with just one or two bad films. Because of social media, the way down is just as fast as the way up.”